Lost In The Woods With A Penguin
by Sour Schuyler
Summary: Skylar, a human villager in the town of Mewzic, and her good friend, Cube the penguin, get hopelessly lost in the uncharted woods while searching for a lost silver mine with Timmy.
1. Calm, Cool Skylar

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters, games, or items in Animal Crossing. However, I do own the characters of Captain Eddie and his crew. I would also like to point out that in the game, my town name is mewzic and my name is schuyler. I have decided to capitalize the town name, making the story more understandable. Also, I have chosen to rename the main character Skylar, because too many people were pronouncing schuyler "shoe-ler."  
  
Chapter 1: Calm, Cool Skylar  
  
It all started with the letter Cube received from Timmy. Skylar was walking over to his house on that particular breezy May day, walking over the green hills, humming to herself and thinking about a rumor that was going around. Word on the street said Katrina was coming to town. She remembered how Katrina had read Cube's fortune last time, and he had started tripping all the time. Though Cube was not amused, Skylar thought it was quite amusing. Then Cube got really mad at her for laughing at him, and had given her the silent treatment for a week, tripping every time he walked. They had patched things up the next week. Skylar smiled in remembrance.  
  
The long walk all the way from Belle's house had made Skylar tired, so she stopped at her house to take a rest for a moment. She glanced at her favorite NES game, Excitebike, and decided like in Mewzic would be much more fun if there was a motorcycle competition. It would be in the spring, she decided. Suddenly, her front door opened, and she stood up from the blue chair she had been sitting in.  
  
"I told you to meet me at my house!" Cube said, frustrated. His neighbor's habit of taking time to think things out - or "meditate", as she called it - bothered him. He wasn't impatient, he just thought it was useless to think things out, since things never go the way you plan anyway. Whenever he told her this, she would laugh and call him, "dopey." Cube did like the way she was always calm, cool, and collected. She rarely ever got angry, and was a pacifist.  
  
"So, come on!" he said. "I've got to show you something, d-d-dude." He started towards the door, then turned back to see Skylar sitting there, her chin resting in her hand. He sighed. "Come on," he said again.  
  
"What do you have to show me?" Skylar asked. "I hope it's not a surprise," she added. "You know I don't like surprises. It was true. She didn't like surprises. Cube thought this was mostly because surprises sometimes turn out bad, but she just liked to expect something before it came. She knew if she told Cube this, he wouldn't understand, his mind being "simple," as she liked to describe it."  
  
"I got a letter," Cube said hurriedly. "An interesting one?" Skylar inquired, one eyebrow raised, her chin still resting in her hand. "Darn it, d-d-dude. Yes!" Cube said, throwing his penguin wings in the air. "From who?" Skylar asked, seeming uninterested.  
  
"Timmy Nook," Cube declared. Skylar sat up straight. "Timmy? But he never writes letters. His dad does all the flyers for his shop, but I've never seen Timmy write anything." Well, well, Skylar mused. This was interesting.  
  
"Well, he wrote me something." "A flyer?" "No, a letter, d-d-dude." Skylar stood up. After brushing her pants off, she started towards the door. "Okay. Let's go," she said calmly, wondering what Timmy could have possibly written.  
  
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Yes, it is a short first chapter, but it is only the beginning! I will add chapter two shortly. I hope you will enjoy my fanfic, as it is my first one. 


	2. Timmy's Information

Disclaimer: Remember, I do not own any of these characters, items, or games that are related to Animal Crossing. They are all owned by Nintendo. Remember that now!  
  
Chapter 2: Timmy's Information  
  
"Come on!" Cube beckoned to Skylar, already across the bridge and almost into acre B-5. But Skylar still strolled along behind him, even pausing to breath in the fresh fragrance of the red tulips that grew by the river.  
  
"Oh, will you hurry up, d-d-dude!" Cube snapped. "What's your problem?" Skylar grinned. "Can't a girl take her time? You know what they say; slow and steady wins the race." She crossed the wooden bridge, her feet thumping against the wood. After crossing, she paused to pick a purple pansy. She held it up to her nose, and inhaled deeply. A ladybug flew off of one of the flower's petals, brushing against Skylar's face and flying away. Skylar didn't seem surprised. A wind blew, blowing her hair to the side, and Cube had to admit, she looked, well, compassionate.  
  
"Grr!" Cube growled, and he approached her, grabbing her arm, and dragging her after him. "Geez, Cube, what's your hurry?" she asked, annoyed. "Well, if we get there, I can tell you!" Cube proceeded to drag Skylar across the rest of the acre. There, in the northwest corner of acre B-5, was him home. He pushed her through the door, and shut it. He than proceeded to go through a huge pile of papers on the white-and-black checkered floor, surrounded by stationary, pens, pencils, and markers.  
  
"I see you're finally getting around to checking your mail," Skylar mused. Cube didn't reply. He kept on searching through his papers. Even through all that mess, it only took him a few seconds to find what he was looking for. He then shoved a piece of simple paper in her face. She grabbed it. Searching the pocket on her red grid shirt, she took out her reading glasses and read the letter.  
  
Cube, I have information you may find very exciting. Meet me behind Nook 'N' Go at midnight. Bring only one other person with you. Timmy Nook  
  
Skylar reread the paper. She felt adrenaline begin to take over, and started jumping up and down. Then, closing her eyes, she counted backwards from twenty. When she felt she was sufficiently calmed down, she looked up at Cube.  
  
"So, ah, who are you taking?" Skylar asked, very well knowing the answer. "You, of course!" Cube replied. "I wonder what 'exciting information' Timmy has," Skylar said out loud. "He never writes letters. Never." "I know," Cube nodded solemnly. The two were silent for the next few moments.  
  
"Well, I guess I'll meet you here at 11:30 tonight. Don't fall asleep!" Skylar reminded him with a grin. Her friend had a habit of falling asleep, even outside. Only last month had Skylar gone for an evening jog and found Cube, who had fallen asleep standing up outside his front door. She had shaken him awake, as she always did.  
  
"If I do, wake me up, d-d-dude!!" Cube begged. Skylar laughed. "Don't I always?" Then she was quiet. Cube's house was silent for a moment, then- "Do you remember that time you fell asleep with that fish dangling half out of your mouth?" They both cracked up. "And- and Monique came by and thought for some reason I was a zombie!" This made them both laugh harder. "And then-" Skylar paused, taking in a quick breath, "And then she ran screaming about zombies and woke up half the town!" Cube fell over laughing. "And- and then Officer Cooper-" he began, but he was laughing so hard, he couldn't finish. "Had to arrest both you and her for disturbing the peace!" Skylar laughed. Cube stopped laughing. He sat up. "And then we had to pay a fine," he said. "Oh, but it was a SMALL fine." Skylar reassured him. "It was 400 bells, d-d-dude!!" Cube protested. "Anyway, I've got to go meet Mathilda and go fishing," Cube told her. "See ya!" Cube grabbed his fishing pole and left, just like that.  
  
Skylar left, closing the front door behind her, and, not feeling quite ready to go home, strolled over to Dora's house. She spent the rest of the day afternoon talking to Dora, and in the evening went home and played Tennis on her NES.  
  
It was much later when she looked at her clock. 10:30. It was time to get ready. She changed into black jeans and a black spaghetti-strap shirt, and got out her flashlight. She was ready. She glanced at her glow clock. 11:00. She set out, and figuring she had at least fifteen more minutes before she had to head over there, so she found an apple tree a few acres away and shook it. As the apples fell off the tree, she sat down against the tree and ate two in the dark. Afterwards, she glanced at her glow-in- the-dark watch. She could turn the glow on or off as she pleased. It was 11:15. It was time.  
  
She tiptoed across the wooden bridge, trying to make as little noise as possible. When she reached Cube's house, she knocked quietly on the door. Cube answered it. "Glad to see you didn't fall asleep," Skylar grinned. "I set my alarm clock and took a nap after I got back from fishing," Cube told her. She almost laughed, but then remembered it would wake up the neighbors, so she kept quiet.  
  
They approached Nook 'N' Go. They saw a lamp hidden within the grass at the side of the store. They headed towards it. Behind the store, in the shade of a tree, stood Timmy Nook. Although Timmy didn't actually work at his father's shop, he helped move the boxes and shipping and stuff.  
  
Timmy beckoned for them to come. They scrambled towards him. "What's up?" he said softly, half-grinning in the lamplight. "Rien de spécial," Skylar replied. "Nothing much here, either d-d-dude," Cube agreed. "Nothing except for the fact we got a letter from you and we're meeting here secretly at night, because you said you have some exciting news for us to hear." Cube grinned. "Nothing out of the ordinary, huh?" Timmy replied with a wink. "Well, anyway, listen to this, this is so cool!" "What?" Skylar asked. "Shut up and listen!" "Yes sir, Captain Nook, sir!"  
  
"Anyway, like I was trying to say, Tortimer told Porter a story, who told it to my Dad, who told it to me. Apparently, there's an old silver mine somewhere in this town! But, it's in the uncharted areas. Like, around acre B-14, E-17. Way far away!" Timmy was obviously excited. "Anyway, the reason they closed down the mine is. it was haunted."  
  
"Haunted?" Cube said. Skylark saw him visibly start to shake. "Yeah, haunted," Timmy said, unfazed. "So, anyway, there was a landslide, and a boulder sealed up the entrance, and they thought, heck, just leave it there, after all, the mine is haunted! But there was still lots of silver in there!" Timmy was jumping up and down now. "So, we can go and camp there, and-"  
  
"Hold on!" Skylark interrupted. "You are saying that there is a lost silver mine many acres away, and you want us to go with you to search for it?"  
  
"Yes!" Timmy squeaked happily. "But why don't you bring Tommy?" Skylar asked. Timmy stopped bouncing up and down. "He's got the flu," he told her. "Everyone in the village knows that, Skylar. There were flyers passed out. Everyone wrote him a thank you card," Cube told her. "Maybe I didn't get the memo," Skylar murmured. She turned back to Timmy. "Listen, if we are going to do this, we are going to need to get a lot of questions answered. Cube and I are going to make a list of questions, and you will answer them. Kapeesh?" "'Kay" Timmy agreed happily.  
  
After a good ten minutes thinking up questions, Cube and Skylar were satisfied with their list. "Alright, Timmy. First of all, we want the whole story on this silver mine."  
  
"Oh, well, I don't really know. But my dad knows all about it," Timmy answered cheerily. "He can tell us everything we need to know."  
  
"Okay, then." Skylar checked the list again. "How long will we be camping and how will we get there and get back?" She asked, looking up to see Timmy's face as he answered. "We'll camp as long as we need to, I guess," he said doubtfully. As for the transportation to and from the campsite, my dad will take care of that.  
  
Skylar and Cube exchanged glances. This wasn't helping. "Okay, next question," Skylar continued. "Do you sleep with a. teddy. bear.? CUBE!!!" Cube laughed, and Skylar socked him. Then Cube turned to Timmy. "Well, do you?" he asked with a grin. Timmy shook his head. They laughed. Skylar punched Timmy good-naturedly.  
  
"Alright, I'm sold," Cube said. "We don't know where we're going, when we're going, how long we're going, or even what to do when we get there. Great conditions, don't you think?" "Perfect," Skylar laughed. "We're in. On one condition." Cube looked at her quizzically. "What?" Asked the ever- excited Timmy Nook. "We bring Tommy too. Can't we wait until he's over his flu? Anyway, four people have a better chance of finding a lost silver mine than three."  
  
"Alright." Timmy Nook agreed. Meet me at my dad's shop at noon. Deal?" Cube and Skylar looked at each other. "Deal," they said.  
  
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Well, that chapter was a lot longer than chapter one. I hope you enjoyed it! : ) 


	3. The Tanuki Box

Chapter 3: The Tanuki Box  
  
"Hey Dad," Timmy greeted as he stepped into his father's shop. "Ho ho, hello, son," Tom Nook welcomed Timmy and his friends. "What brings you here?" "Well," Cube began, "this is a store, after all." Skylar laughed. She quickly regained her composure. With a serious look on her face, she said, "Mr. Nook, we were hoping you could tell us the legend of that old silver mine that's supposed to be near town."  
  
"Near town? Ho ho! My child, I can tell you-" "Don't call me that," Skylar interrupted. "Fine. Anyway, it's not near. It's over half a dozen acres away! It's closer to Amyville than Mewzic, really. In fact, when the silver mine was first discovered, there was a big fight over which town it belonged to. See, it was closer to Amyville, but it was a villager from Mewzic who had discovered it." "Ohh," Cube said, staring softly at the wall. Skylar nudged him. "What??" Cube looked up, seemingly surprised to see them there.  
  
"You were about to fall asleep again," Skylar told him. Timmy and his father stared at Cube like he had done something weird, concern in both pairs of eyes. "Er. He does that sometimes," Skylar told them. "I see." Nook's voice faded off. Timmy tried to say something, but his voice cracked. Cube was blushing, and he turned away.  
  
After a few minutes, Tom Nook opened his mouth. "I see," he said, then, "ho ho! Timmy, fetch this penguin and his young friend-" "I'm not young. After all, I live on my own," Skylar retorted, hands on her hips. "Of course," Tom Nook replied dryly, seemingly annoyed. But then he rubbed his hands together and licked his lips. "Timmy, fetch them the Tanuki Box!"  
  
"The Tanuki Box?" Skylar and Cube said together. They exchanged glances. Skylar looked at Mr. Nook warily. Timmy brought out a medium-sized bright blue box with small golden stars painted on it.  
  
"TA DAAA!!!!" Tom Nook cried, his hands above his head. "This is a fabulous Tanuki Box! Rare and, unfortunately, a tad expensive! Only 4,000 bells, and this box is yours!" He leaned toward the pair and raised and lowered his eyebrows, causing Cube to back up more until he fell on top of the counter, knocking stationary to the ground.  
  
"Uh, sir?" Cube started, "What is a Tanuki Box?" Skylar helped him on his feet, and then turned to Nook.  
  
"Not A Tanuki Box. Ho ho, this is THE Tanuki Box!" Mr. Nook exclaimed with a wide grin. Skylar put her hands on her hips. "And what does this 'Tanuki Box' do?" "I'm glad you asked," Tom Nook said. "Alright, have you ever heard of coon hunting?" Cube's eyes opened wide, and Skylar's jaw dropped in horror. "Cannibal!" Cube shouted, and they both ducked behind the shopping carts. Tom Nook sweatdropped.  
  
"Oh, no no no, ho ho! Raccoons did not do coon hunting. It was done by coonhounds, and HUMANS-" Mr. Nook glared at Skylar. "-With guns." Skylar held up her hands. "I don't own any guns," she said with a cool attitude. "Yeah," Cube agreed.  
  
"Hmph. Well, ho ho. Fine. But there are those who do hunt raccoons. And in this box are contained all the screams of all the raccoons that ever died by a hunters gun or a coonhounds bite."  
  
"...Tanuki?" Cube asked. "Tanuki. Raccoon in Japanese." "Oh." "Anyway," Timmy piped in, "It'll keep you awake, no matter what. Just open the box-" He opened it. A shrill scream was heard. "-And you won't fall asleep."  
  
"As I said, it's 4,000 bells," Tom Nook coolly, looking at his claws. "But you look like you really need it, so I guess I could-"  
  
"How much?" Cube said eagerly. "3,200 bells." "Hold on. Let me go home and grab some money." Zoom! Cube was gone.  
  
"......So, uh, how's Tommy doing?" Skylar said idly. "He's still got the flu," Timmy explained. "Oh, that's too bad." Skylar scuffed up the floor with one sneaker, looking at the floor. "You want to see him?" Timmy asked. Skylar nodded. "Um, that would be nice, I guess." Skylar was still looking at the floor. Tom Nook was attending the carts behind the counter. "Kay, follow me."  
  
"Her name's not Kay! It's Skylar!" Monique said, entering the shop, followed by Coco. "I meant." Timmy started. "Who cares what you meant? Her name's Skylar, okay?" Monique said, throwing her arms up into the air. Timmy fell back a bit.  
  
"Hey Coco, what's up?" Skylar greeted her, glad to be saved to petty idle conversation. "Nothing much," the rabbit said, shrugging. "I read a really good magazine that Mathilda lent me. You might want to read it sometime."  
  
"Cool, what was it called?" Skylar asked. "Kangaroo Fanfictions." "Cool. Maybe I'll ask her if I can borrow it for the camping trip."  
  
"Camping trip? You're going camping?" Monique turned around and walked a few steps towards her. "Yeah. Cube, Timmy, and I. We're going searching for a lost silver mine."  
  
"Wow! A lost silver mine!?" Monique exclaimed. "That is sooooooo cool! I hope you find it!" She paused for a second, then added in a whisper, "I want one block of silver." "Deal," Skylar whispered back, and the two laughed. Across the store, Timmy thought the seemingly maniacal laughter was bizarre.  
  
"Er... I'm going to the back to get a drink of water." Timmy backed away slowly, then turned away and scrambled through the back door, into storage room.  
  
The storage room was as large as Nook 'N' Go, with a concrete floor. It was damp in there. Water dripped from the ceiling. Soggy boxes filled with unsold merchandise and even a few boxes of special things the Nook family had saved over the years. Timmy picked up a faded photograph in a rusty golden frame. With one claw he wiped away some of the dust. The picture was of a female tanuki, wearing a melon tartan and wearing a pink bow on top of her head. She was standing in a grassy place, winking with an open smile on her face, and holding a basket brimming with purple pansies in one hand. "Mom." Timmy said. "Mom, I miss you. Don't worry. Tommy says it will be all right, and I trust my big brother." Timmy put down the picture frame. He went to the back of the room, where there was a water cooler and a stack on small plastic cups. He quickly filled a cup up with cold water, and took his time drinking it. The cool liquid poured down his throat. "Ahh," he said, wiping his mouth and throwing the cup away into a small trash can next to the cooler. Then he started back towards the store area of the building.  
  
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Sorry it took me a couple weeks to get this up. I wasn't sure how to make this meeting go. And still, there are only a few important details in this chapter. What did Tommy mean everything would be okay, though? You will find out! 


	4. Timmy is Tommy

…_Ok, so maybe when I put up the "on hold" disclaimer in the summary, I thought I was really discontinuing this fic. I had lost some of the ideas and the beginnings on chapter 4 on a disk which became corrupted, saddening me greatly. I never really thought I'd be continuing this story 3 years later. O.O It's kind of miraculous, when you think about it._

_So, just a few notes: I'm trying to keep my writing style close to what it was originally, 3 years ago. Although I think it's a bit sedate in places, I'll just go with it. Overall, it's not bad, but not "wow." However, I think suddenly writing in a totally new style would kind of make this fic a little weird for people who may start reading it now. So I'll try to keep it sedate. Yes, sedate. I'll try not to embellish it too much. _

_Anyway, this is the chapter where things start to happen. Have fun with the intrigue. : P_

_What kind of saddens me is that it has been three years, and I STILL don't own Animal Crossing. Bummer._

_-Skylar_

Chapter 4: Timmy is Tommy

Monique and Coco quickly selected their articles—a tartan shirt for Coco, and some panda stationary for Monique—and left. Skylar shivered. She trusted the owner of the store, but she didn't like being all alone with him. The habit he had of blocking your way when you were standing in the doorway irked her. It seemed like something a bully or shady figure would do. She was relieved when a young tanuki entered the store from a back room.

"Hi Skylar!" Timmy coughed loudly. Skylar looked toward him in concern.

"Tommy…?" she wondered.

"Of course it's me," Timmy lied sedately. "Can't you tell?"

Skylar gave him a rather bizarre look. "You look like a carbon copy of your brother," she explained.

"Oh."

"Where's Timmy?" she wondered.

"He's preparing my medicine."

"Oh." Skylar craned her neck towards Nook, who was neatening up some items in the corner. "So, um, are you going to come with us on the camping trip?"

'Tommy' nodded. "Of course!" he said, trying to smile. It was hard, Timmy thought, to judge whether his smile looked fake or not, unless he was looking in a mirror. Skylar seemed to buy it well enough.

"You look kind of tired," she commented, and Timmy cheered inside his head.

"I am feeling a bit bushed," he answered. "Flu, you know." He added, defensively: "You didn't write me a thank-you card."

"I didn't know," Skylar said before she apologized.

"I sent out flyers…"

"My mailbox must've been full," she said guiltily. Then she changed the subject to something a little more serious. "Are you going to be well enough to go camping?"

Timmy shrugged. "We don't know when we're going, so I'll probably be better by then."

"Whenever then is." Skylar laughed. At that moment a bumbling penguin slammed into the see-through door. At that moment, Timmy made a big point of coughing exaggeratedly to point out his 'illness,' so Skylar did not hear the thud as Cube fell to the ground, nor the shouted complaints Cube directed towards the door.

"Ow…" Timmy touched his chest. "I feel sick…"

Skylar's eyes flashed with compassion. "Well, you go back and take your medicine and rest, okay?" She smiled at him. "Just send Timmy out when you're done."

"Ok," Timmy agreed. He went back into the storage room, just as Cube waddled safely into the shop.

"Bye Tommy!" Cube chirruped. Timmy waved and shut the door. "Nook, I want to buy the Tanuki Box now, d-d-dude."

The large 'coon cleared his throat. "Very good! Very good! That will be 4,000 bells."

Skylar stared at the door that 'Tommy' had exited through for a moment, then outside at the dark acre, her eyes flittering across the white tulips and purple pansies, while her best friend flailed and accused Nook of being unfair.

"You did say that he could have it for 3,200 bells," she said when her opinion was asked of her.

"Surely I would not have bargained down to such a low price!" Nook defended fiercely. "3,500 bells and it's yours."

"How about 3,300?" Skylar asked absentmindedly, and Cube agreed. Nook adamantly denied this.

"I guess I don't need the box then…" Cube sighed.

Skylar turned to him. "You really wanted that silly box?" she laughed. Nook's brow twitched. "Who wants a box that screams every time you open it anyway?"

"Alright!" Nook shouted. "3,350 bells."

"Sweet, d-d-dude!" said Cube.

"Actually, 3,351 bells," Nook added hastily. The penguin shrugged, and handed the tanuki a few bags of bells. After Nook and Cube had completed the transaction, Nook politely told him that they had to leave.

"The shop should've closed hours ago," he explained. "Timmy will contact the two of you when you figure out when we'll be leaving…"

"Are you coming as well?" Skylar inquired. Nook shrugged.

"I might," he said simply. "But then, how would I make money while my two sons are out on the greatest adventures of their lives?"

"That's true," said Skylar. "Uhm, so Timmy isn't coming out? Tommy said that he would…"

Nook nodded, then shook his head. "No, no. Timmy's busy taking good care of his brother. You two run along."

"Ok, d-d-dude," Cube said. Skylar and Cube both said farewell and then exited the shop.

"That was kind of cold," Cube expressed when the two of them were an acre away, tip-toeing quietly past the house of a sleeping neighbor.

"Well, it must be grueling, running a shop all day," Skylar sympathized. "I mean, can you think of how sleep-deprived Mr. Nook would be if Nook 'N Go was a 24 hour store?"

Cube flailed. "I'm sure it could work somehow!" he declared, and Skylar shushed him, pointing out that it was much too late to be yelling.

"Sorry, d-d-dude" Cube apologized. Skylar shrugged and explained that it wasn't her she was offending.

"You don't want to wake up Monique," Skylar teased. "Even though you don't have a fish in your mouth, you look tired enough to be a zombie, anyway."

"No way!" Cube argued. "I'm the sun boy! But don't tell anybody."

Skylar shut her mouth. She didn't have the heart to tell her best friend that she'd been told this by at least three other buffoons in town, and even by a few that she'd visited in other towns.

"And I'm full of energy!" Cube continued. "It's because I work out, d-d-dude! I bet I could go to the Wishing Well right now and do a dance, and the sun would come up."

"Actually," Skylar said quietly, staring at a fish's shadow in the dark creek, "the sun comes up because the Earth is actually rotating—turning itself around, you know? So the sun is on the other side of the Earth side now, and when it's daylight over here, it's nighttime over there."

Cube looked at her in awe as they made their way over the bridge, their dull footfalls making a lot of noise. A light went on in the acre below them. They quickly scampered across towards Cube's house, and the orange trees next to it that were in Skylar's backyard.

"Where'd you learn that?" Cube asked softly, clearly impressed.

Skylar shrugged. "My hometown. We had a good school."

"Oh." Cube thought for a minute. "Wait a second…! There's no way that could be possible! You're making it all up, Skylar!"

Skylar grinned. "It's true!" she insisted.

"But if the Earth is spinning like you say it is, why aren't we all falling down?"

"Because it's spinning really, really fast."

"So why aren't we falling down really, really fast."

"Gravity."

"What's that?"

"A lesson for another day," Skylar said, reaching out to shake one of the orange trees behind her house. Three plump oranges fell to the ground. She picked two up, scarfing one down and offering the other to Cube. Her penguin friend shook his head.

"I'm tired," he said, "and now my head hurts." He glared at Skylar. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"'Kay. Bye!"


	5. KK Playtime

"I've got a new jam for you tonight," Totakeke told one of his listeners. "It's called K.K. Playtime. Here it goes!"

Totakeke's fingers whirred across his guitar, and he howled:

"_Cube had thought that Timmy's letter  
__would make his boring life much better,  
__but his hopes of excitement became meek  
__after Skylar and he waited their first week.  
__But still Cube checked in everyday  
__to see if news had come their way.  
__Skylar came too, along for the ride,  
__calm about the hopes that she housed inside.  
__But sometime between the third week and the fourth,  
__Nook held a raffle and she won something of worth:  
__A NES game with Wario! She was excited.  
__She invited Cube over and through efforts united  
__they played until they were quite sleep-deprived  
__and then slept 'til the bags had fled from under their eyes.  
__When they got over the game, they took up a net  
__and bagged as many bugs as they could get.  
__This was great fun 'til they found a hive in a tree.  
__Poor Cube was battle stung, but the bees got off scot-free,  
__so fishing soon became the name of the game  
__and the two found themselves at the beach in the rain  
__Wrestling with a shadow larger than Cube's wing.  
__But the large fish got away so they came to see me sing.  
__And they spent the next few months in the same fashion,  
__flitting from fad to fad, passion to passion.  
__They even went to an island a time or two!  
__Even though Kap'n's singing made them quite blue.  
__At least twice a week they'd converse quietly  
__about the adventure that seemed never to be.  
__But with patience of steel they held out with hope  
__(though Cube claimed hitting 'Nique with a net helped him cope,)  
__And though the promise of adventure wasn't far from their minds,  
__they had fishing and pitfalls to occupy the time.  
__Until one brisk day in autumn Skylar was wasting the good weather  
__inside with her NES game, when she received a letter… _

_AROO!"_

The villager clapped politely. Totakeke threw up his huge eyebrows and grinned. "Let me give you the aircheck to that, man! The AIRCHECK! It's the recording, man!"

The villager declined rather hastily and left to leave poor Totakeke to angst over his deadening career.


	6. A Broken Tree

It was a great day. The sun was shining, the fish were swarming, and fat, large bugs were everywhere. All of the fruit in town were ripe, and a sapling in front of Nook's establishment was now full-grown. For the nature lover, everything was perfect for relaxation and peaceful fishing or bug collecting.

For the materialistic, today also had a lot of appeal; one could find multiple items in the dump, lots of findings in the Lost and Found, and a sale at Nook N Go. (Not that any of those places yielded quality items…) It was a suitable day for shopping, dumpster diving and "reclaiming" stuff that wasn't yours in the first place.

That being said, both Skylar and Monique had been wasting the day indoors anyway.

"It's my turn," Monique purred, and Skylar handed her the controller. Monique scooted closer to the screen. "This Balloon Fight game is lots of fun, okay," she said, "even if we had to sneak into Kitty's house to play it."

Skylar chuckled. She knew Kitty very well and was sure that Kitty wouldn't be checking up on her house anytime soon.

"That's human's so weird," Monique complained. "She hasn't written me a single letter in like, four months, okay?"

"Okay," Skylar answered. And then: "No! Look out for the--!"

Monique groaned as the balloon popped on the screen, and the small character floated downwards to their presumable doom. "Oh no!" she hissed. "Can I take another turn?"

Skylar shrugged. "Okay." Outside, she heard the ringing of the bell signaling the changing of the hour. The Mewzic song echoed throughout the entire town.

"Someone should change that tune," Monique complained. Skylar was listening for the flapping of wings. She heard them.

"Pete's here," she announced joyously. Monique snorted.

"There's not going to be anything to me from Kitty," she squealed. Skylar nodded sympathetically, and then stood up and jogged toward the door. "Where are you going, okay?"

"I'm just going to check my mail," she answered. She quickly went outside. Usually Skylar took her time with everything, but this time she wanted to see Pete.

"Hi Pete!" she called to the pelican before he rushed off. The mail bird turned around.

"Oh, hi!" he replied. "What's up?"

"Nothing. You still in love with Phyllis?"

Pete sighed wistfully. "Yeah…"

Skylar gave him a large grin. "Gross" was what she was thinking as she imagined the mail bird trying to woo the world's crabbiest (and arguably ugliest) mail clerk. "Ah, well. In a few months you can give her a Valentine's day card!" she told him.

"…Last year she threw it away in the 'bill' pile of all her mail," Pete said sadly. Skylar, though kind-hearted, had trouble imagining Phyllis getting _any _mail. "But I know that it was just an accident. After all, the other mail girl got a letter and was ecstatic—"

"You work with her and you don't even know her name?" Skylar interrupted. "Oops, sorry. That was rude."

"That's alright. No, I don't know her name. Why is it important? What really matters in that Phyllis is there in the evenings!" Pete beamed. Skylar's stomach churned.

"Oh, well, okay. Did I get any mail?" she inquired. Pete nodded.

"Some stuff from your mom, and a flyer from Nook and some other stuff," he told her. Skylar smiled and thanked the bird, then watched him as he took off. She checked her mailbox, her gyroid going nuts in the meantime merely at the fact that she was there. She checked her mail. As promised, there were two letters from her mom, and a letter from Cube, and one from Coco. In addition to Nook N Go's daily flyer, there was also a message from Timmy. She ripped that one open first.

Skylar, Tommy and I are ready for our adventure! There's no real need for us to meet, so just pack your bags! One suitcase at the most, please—you can buy them at our store! (Shameless advertising, I know. Dad insisted I put it there.) Timmy

Skylar grinned. And grinned. And grinned some more. Widely. Her broad grin stretched across her face, more than the time she realized Nook wasn't going to require her to work for him anymore. She had to tell Cube right away! That was for certain.

She power-walked across the tiny pavilion and entered Kitty's house. Usually she took her time with walking, but Monique was waiting for her, and excitement was bubbling up inside her chest. "Monique, I'm going to find Cube," she announced breathily. Monique responded with shock.

"I can't stay here alone, okay!" the cat lamented. Skylar smiled at her reassuringly.

"Don't worry; I'm sure Kitty won't be coming back for a while, so just enjoy the Balloon Fight game while you can. I'll be back in an hour to check up on you. Cube might come. We'll see if he's any good at his game" The human gave her feline friend a thumbs up, which was answered by the twitching on a brown tail. "Don't be mad, 'Nique. It's just really important. It's about…" Skylar leaned in to whisper, even though she was still standing by the door and Monique was well on the other side of the room, "_the silver mine_."

The cat immediately took interest. "Really?" she purred. "Well, okay. Don't let me deter you any longer than. Go! Scat! And remember, you promised me two blocks of silver, okay?"

Skylar nodded and headed out to find her best friend in the whole wide village. Where would the bumbling penguin be?

Strolling around the village after finding Cube's house empty, Skylar decided that she ought take a detour and go to the Wishing Well and apologize for the watch she hadn't been able to return to Coco. So she made her way to the acre-sized pavilion, where the largest tree in Mewzic was rooted directly behind a well. There, she found Cube.

"Skylar!" Cube called out. "I got a really cool letter! You gotta see it!"

"Ok," Skylar said, "but I got a cool letter, too. What if to see whose letter we read first… I try to climb up the Wishing Well's tree before you spell the word Shakespeare?"

"Awright!" Cube agreed immediately, his competitive spirit kicking in. Danielle smiled, aware that a victory was eminent for her. Cube couldn't spell if his life depended on it.

"S-H-E… E…"

Danielle rolled her eyes, and languidly groped for the first branch of the Wishing Well's mighty tree. It was a bit high up, and she couldn't quite reach… But she had a lot of time. She stepped back a bit, and took a running approach to the tree.

The tree seemed to shiver underneath her sneakers. She reached out wildly and tried to grasp the lowest branch. She grabbed it, and a loud _pop _sound occurred. It seemed to spark off right in her right ear.

"OW!" she shrieked, and grabbed at her ear, trying to block of the resonating sound that was keeping a steady hum in her throbbing ear. Bad move. She fell towards the cobblestone pavilion, screaming.

"…Z… Oh my gosh! Skylar!" Cube ran over to where his friend was in trouble. It was too late; Danielle's back crashed against the ground painfully.

"You okay, d-d-dude?" Cube helped Skylar to her feet. Now her human hands were outstretched, trying to hold the sore spots on her back, as if having her palm on top of them would make them feel better. She took deep breaths and gulps, then coughed, making Cube wonder if Skylar had swallowed a common butterfly. Finally, his best friend calmed down.

"I'm okay," she finally answered.

"A-hem."

Cube and Skylar both looked up, to see the Wishing Well leering at them. Skylar realized that a part of the branch had snapped off in her hand.

"You really have something to apologize for now," the tree groused.


End file.
